Volume 57 / Social Sciences

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS: CHILE

MICHAEL FLEET, Associate Professor of Political Science, Marquette University

THIS BIENNIUM'S MATERIALS on Chile reflect a declining interest in politics
among Chileans. Compared to previous years, this volume includes more studies
published outside Chile (in the US, Europe, and elsewhere in Latin America),
and a larger number of journal articles, rather than commercially marketed books,
among those produced in the country. It seems that publishers can not guarantee
the sale of enough copies of books about politics to justify producing greater
quantities. Evidence of declining political interest is also found in the December
1993 general elections, in which the percentage of eligible voters who actually
voted was relatively high, but interest and enthusiasm were clearly much lower
than in 1989. Materials during this period are dominated by personal portraits
and testimonies (many of which have been produced by political parties and/or
presses favorable to them), by proposals and discussions dealing with institutional
reform, by studies of social forces and movements, and by analyses of national
politics and parties.

One interesting example of portrait and testimonial literature is Santibáñez's
account of Aylwin's early career and presidency, underscoring the skill with
which the Christian Democratic president managed party and broader coalition
problems (item bi 96002854). Sapag offers affectionate reminiscences and anecdotes
of Cardinal Raul Silva Henríquez (item bi 97001530). Serrano and Scantlebury
interview a number of the economists who played central policy-making roles
during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s (item bi 96002844). And Pinochet's Interior
Minister Sergio Fernández offers a detailed, insider's account of policy
and political decision-making during the early 1980s and in the year prior to
the 1988 plebiscite (item bi 96002833). The latest volume of Pinochet's own
memoirs makes for less than riveting reading (item bi 96002832), but Osorio
and Cabezas offer enlightening portraits of a number of his cabinet ministers’
closest collaborators (item bi 96002834). Pohorecky sheds light on reasons for
which young activists including her son found the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic
Front to be an attractive option during the years of military rule (item bi
97001532).

Among works dealing with institutional reform, Tomassini's stand out. His edited
volume offers reflections by Chileans, other Latin Americans, and Europeans
on various aspects of administrative reform and modernization, State-civil societal
relations, and specific policy questions (item bi 97001533). In his own work,
he fashions an argument (with right-wing reform opponents in mind) linking enduring
economic growth and efficiency to the greater equity and political stability
that reforms might produce (item bi 96002842). In related essays, Lahera presses
for more efficient, if more limited, regulation of certain markets (item bi
95012895), and Martner argues for the democratization of municipal governments
which began in 1993 (item bi 96002851). On the issue of the controversial binomial
electoral system imposed by Pinochet as he was leaving power, Rabkin argues
persuasively that it has not had unduly disproportional effects, and has pushed
the country's parties toward greater moderation and collaboration (HLAS 55:3480);
Siavelis and Valenzuela take a different view, suggesting that its tendency
to exclude smaller parties unwilling to join broader alliances could have destabilizing
effects, and that electoral systems are generally less important in producing
party-systems than historical and contextual factors which they should try to
accommodate rather than neutralize (item bi 96013551). Two additional works
worthy of note are the proceedings of a 1994 conference on political corruption
(item bi 96002853), and retired Army Gen. Julio Canessa's reflections on the
military interventions of 1924 and 1973 (item bi 96002831).

This period's material also includes a number of studies of social forces and
movements. Schneider's study of neighborhood organizations offers detailed portraits
of activists, and links higher levels of involvement in the mid-1980s protests
to the presence of a Communist party nucleus and a tradition of political militancy
(item bi 96002838). Oxhorn covers much of the same ground, but focuses on relations
with national party organizations and developments beyond 1986 (item bi 95002301).
Lowden analyzes the important role of the Catholic Church's Vicaria de Solidaridad,
particularly during the 1970s and early 1980s (item bi 97009721). Hipsher stresses
the willingness of local-level activists in Spain and Chile to lower their profiles
when this was likely to make the transition smoother (item bi 96022989). Frohmann
and Valdés attempt to explain why Chilean women have not parlayed their
growing cultural influence into the political sphere (item bi 95018651). Finally,
Rehren traces the evolution of entrepreneurial attitudes and loyalties prior
to, during, and following the 1988 plebiscite (item bi 96024358).

Some interesting studies of parties and politics published during this biennium
are Angell and Pollack's assessment of the December 1993 election (item bi 95016488),
Spanish journalist Rafael Otano's masterful Crónica de la transición
(item bi 96015383), Hite's insightful analysis of the evolution of leaders of
the Chilean left (item bi 96022842), Scully's reflections on the remarkable
persistence of the country's three ideological-political blocs (item bi 95015899),
and a highly critical assessment of Chile's restored democracy by Galleguillos
and Nef (item bi 94001896). Although there are fewer than in previous periods,
this biennium includes several dramatic accounts of the activities of security
forces during the years of military rule. Merino's Mi verdad is the confession
of a mirista who spent 15 years working for the DINA and CNI (item bi 96002850).
Caucoto and Salazar offer a thorough assessment of Carabinero involvement
in the 1985 murders of three Communist party militants and the subsequent cover-up
(item bi 96002847). La Epoca editor Manuel Salazar has written a forceful
exposé of Manuel Contreras, the DINA, and their involvement in the murders
of Ronnie Moffit and Orlando Letelier (item bi 96002835).

A final set of materials offer valuable insight into Chilean culture and society
over the last 30 years. These include Lechner's thoughtful reflections on the
political disaffection that has enveloped so many Chileans in recent years (item
bi 96025167), Jadresic's assessment of post-military Chile's mental and spiritual
health (item bi 96002849), Piñuel's analysis of the effects of television
advertising in the 1988 plebiscite (item bi 96002848), and Duran's study of
the impact of Chile's El Mercurio during the last year of the Allende government
(item bi 97001529).